Contents

History

The character of the "COCOROBO" products, known as "Cocorobo-chan", was originally featured as a special premium version of the Cocorobo RX-V200 cleaning robot model and was sold under the model no. of RX-CLV1-P. It was trialed in April 2014 with 11 chosen participants and was described as having a tsundere personality. The idea was to bring characters to the models that owners can communicate with. Though cheerful most of the time, the device was capable of some moodier responses. It was the first model to have conversational functions.[1]

It was sold in 2014 in limited numbers from November to December, with the commercial product having a different character illustration on it to the trial version. It featured the image of a "little sister" called "Cocorobo <Little Sister vers.>" (COCOROBO＜妹Ver.＞ )which represented the "character" of the robot. The voice used for the character of Cocorobo was Ibuki Kido.[2] It was the first of several COCOROBO releases to feature vocal talents and was the product of a collaboration between several companies.[3]

An updated COCOROBO was later revealed at CEATECH JAPAN 2016 as a 'musical A.I.' robot vacuum with an accompanying VOCALOID4 voice.[4] Several demos were also showcased and it was confirmed that Ibuki Kido would be reprising the role. This version is featured on the RX-V95A-N cleaning robot model.

On July 23, 2018, SHARP_JP responded to a tweet in regards to the developments of COCOROBO as a voicebank. They stated that while it isn't cancelled, they couldn't make a clear announcement about the circumstances.[5]

Concept

Etymology

Work in Progress

Appearance

Work in Progress

History

Marketing

Cocorobo cleaning robots are popular in Japan with men and women from their teens to 70s, though it is more popular with males (ratio is 6:4) than females. COCOROBO devices have their quirks, for example the devices have also been known to randomly talk to their owners even at night or obey instructions not meant for them. They are sometimes thought of for this reason as electronic pets.[6]

System Requirements

Voicebank Libraries

Product Information (Hardware)

Package details as noted:

COCOROBO is a cleaning robot product range by SHARP. Its primarily function is to clean floors automatically.

This version is a special version produced with expanded capabilities on the standard models. It uses an official COCOROBO original vocal and character, originally referred to as "COCOROBO <little sister vers.>" in its initial release in 2014. In its previous version, as its name suggests, the COCOROBO was designed to act as a "little sister" member of a family. The new version is based on the RX-V95a and has similar functions to it.

Functions as noted:

As aforementioned, the COCOROBO brand is built to primarily function as a cleaning robot and automatically cleans floors. It uses sensors to move around and detect the edge of surfaces and avoid collisions.

They will systematically traverse a room in straight lines, though some room arrangements may interfere with its cleaning patterns.

It has a low profile to get under low sofas and other places and will go around a furniture leg if detected.

COCOROBO devices respond to the Japanese standard dialect and can be told basic functions via speaking. They will greet "good morning" for example if greeted and playback information told to them such as appointments. They have a "listening" button which the respond to.

In addition to normal functions, this version of the device is able to play music upon request including music produced using its own vocal.

It recharges via returning to a docking station when it detects its power is low and is able to locate its station. It can also be programmed when to do so, such as at night.